Sunday, July 6, 2008

Raising a daughter

I don't  wear makeup. I stopped wearing it a few years ago. Why? I stopped wearing makeup because of my daughter. You see, I have the most beautiful 8 year old daughter in the world. She has knee-length, dark blonde hair. Petal soft, pink skin which turns a wonderful golden brown after being in the sun (thanks to her Portugese ancestry). The biggest, bluest eyes, surrounded by the darkest, thickest lashes you've ever seen. She's beautiful just as she is.


But this is America. In a few years, if we don't we do something to make it different, she will be like every other teenage girl you see. All of her beauty will be hidden under 5 pounds of  makeup. Foundation. Blush. Mascara. Powder blue eye shadow . Blush. Lipstick.  And she will spend the rest of her life feeling like she can't go out the door without all that junk hiding her true beauty.


Now I've never been a big makeup person. Fully made-up for me was mascara, lipgloss and a little powder. But I would put it on before we went anywhere. In the car on the way to church I would always put on lipgloss. My baby girl would want to be like me and she would ask for some too. So I would let her "powder her nose". It was cute.


But then I started thinking about it. I didn't want her to cover her beauty with chemical junk. So I stopped covering my beauty (I use the term loosely). And we talked about why. I explained that God had made us the way he wanted us to look. And if you think about it, changing our looks or trying to "improve" upon them, in a way, is saying we can do better than God. Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying wearing makeup is a sin or that I am better than anybody by NOT wearing it. I am simply saying, I want my daughter to grow up secure in how beautiful she is, WITHOUT hiding her beauty under makeup. I want her to grow up with her big blue eyes standing out on their own right. Her petal soft skin serving as it's own foundation. Her beautiful pink lips unhidden by the "in" color of the season.


Now the day may come, when she marries, that her husband may like her to wear makeup. It's out of my hands at that point. But I can give her the confidence to not to need to hide under makeup. I can give her the confidence to put her best face forward. The face that God gave her.


Blessings.

2 comments:

  1. Bravo!

    I too have stopped wearing make-up. I had yet to think about my daughter (she is only 2), but it made me feel so fake! My husband says he can't even tell when I don't have make-up on (liar, lol) and that he likes me this way!

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  2. Everyone need to know that they are beautiful just the way they were created by God. I quit wearing make up as well a couple of years ago. I didn't wear much either . But my eye lashes were almost clear looking. I find my eye allergies aren't now where as bad ,red and swellon ,ichy as they were . My lashes even have stated to get some color in them . That was strange ,but a blessing . I agree it's not a sin either way . But its great to know inside out that your beauty shines throught with out it . Your doing the right thing for your daughter and that is all that really matters . Blessing ,Shaune

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